Tag Archives: slo-motion-hero

Joss Whedon Trolls ‘Star Wars’ Fans, Talks Wasp In ‘Avengers’

In our pre-Mayan apocalypse era, when you want to ensure that whatever you say is disseminated far and wide faster than the time it takes to tweet ‘DID YOU SEE THIS ###$$!!!’ the best advice is to master the subtle art of trolling with useful facts. Case in point: Joss Whedon , who screened The Avengers and afterward, sat for one of Jeff Goldsmith’s Q&As Tuesday night at the Director’s Guild of America in Hollywood. During a discussion that also included some tantalizing non-reveals about elements that almost, but didn’t make it into The Avengers , he decided to troll the entire universe by insisting that Star Wars: A New Hope is better than The Empire Strikes Back . Kind of! Slashfilm was on the scene and reports this comment: “I still believe that even though The Empire Strikes Back is better in innumerable ways than Star Wars , Star Wars wins,” Whedon said, “because you can’t end a movie with Han frozen in carbonite. That’s not a movie, it’s an episode.” Okay, after putting my fist back down and unclenching it, I see his point. Empire began what has become the most troubling aspect* of Hollywood’s obsession with trilogies; a stand alone first installment, with two subsequent films that work better as a duo rather than taken individually. A true trilogy ought to either feature three films that either work as stand alone stories linked by a common theme, or two cliffhangers in a row with resolution coming in the third movie. Empire , and to a lesser extent Jedi , manage the trick with some subtlety, but there’s a short line between them and Matrix Reloaded / Revolutions . And we must never forget Matrix Reloaded , lest we repeat the mistakes of the past. Anyway, those comments came during a circumspect discussion of how he envisions the Avengers franchise, and should probably be taken to mean that we won’t be getting an Avengers ‘trilogy.’ Good news, that, because instead we’re getting the crazy experiment that is the Marvel movie universe. Slashfilm ‘s recap is worth a full read, particularly because it includes more confirmation that the inclusion of the Wasp was indeed considered in the event ScarJo wasn’t available — interesting in light of recent rumors that Lizzy Caplan , who stars with Jesse Bradford in the Marvel short Item 47 , is a potential candidate to play the diminutive mutant. Read the whole thing here . * Second most troubling: claiming that three thematically unrelated sequels constitute a trilogy I AM LOOKING AT YOU DIE HARD . [ Source: Slashfilm ] Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow him on twitter (@rossalincoln). Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Joss Whedon Trolls ‘Star Wars’ Fans, Talks Wasp In ‘Avengers’

‘Pain & Gain’ Trailer: Michael Bay Pumps Iron, Hero Shots Into Bizarre True Crime Tale

If you loathe Transformers – Michael Bay but have a soft spot for the Bay who made not one, but two Bad Boys es, then the first trailer for his true crime pic Pain & Gain is going to push all the right buttons: Beefy macho men, fast cars, a slick Miami setting, Mark Wahlberg hitting that Dirk Diggler sweet spot of dumb overconfidence, and everyone’s favorite muscleman, The Rock… it’s enough to make the truly disturbing real life saga of a gang of bodybuilding thugs-turned-killers who bungled their way through unspeakable acts of torture and murder into a feelgood American Dream antihero tale! Wahlberg stars as real life ringleader Daniel Lugo, a small time Florida dreamer/ short shorts enthusiast who tapped his workout buddies to pull the most inept — and, don’t get it twisted, unforgivably violent — extortion attempt in recent history. Things didn’t turn out so well for the Sun Gym gang, and things certainly didn’t shake out in slo-motion hero shots and hilarious sound bite quips for their victims. The trailer is CSI Miami -slick and stuffed with all the usual Bay signatures that made him the commercially successful bombast-specialist auteur that he is, but I can’t help but wonder if, after making relatable Lugo & Co.’s yearning for more, and glorifying the bromantic shenanigans that unfold as they cook up a scheme to steal money from Monk, Bay will flip the table on his audience and shine a harsher light on the crimes that put these “heroes” on death row in real life. Since this is Michael Freaking Bay we’re talking about here, I have no idea what to expect on the moral ambiguity tip, but best case scenario, this could be his most mature and complex look at modern machismo yet. (Maybe that’s not saying much.) Pain & Gain is based on Miami New Times writer Pete Collins’ fascinating report on the Sun Gym gang and the Fargo -esque trajectory of their eventual downfall and arrest. The full saga is a must-read: Find it archived here . Pain & Gain hits theaters April 26. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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‘Pain & Gain’ Trailer: Michael Bay Pumps Iron, Hero Shots Into Bizarre True Crime Tale